MUMBAI: The Nifty fell sharply in the last half-an-hour of trade on Friday and closed in the negative terrain for the sixth consecutive session as investors booked profits on the back of weak cues from European markets. Investors were also cautious ahead of the winter session of Parliament next week.

The market discounted comments from Finance Minister P Chidambaram that the economy is likely to pick up in third and fourth quarters of the financial year.

The minister also said that India can still meet the fiscal deficit target of 5.3 per cent of GDF for the current financial year.

The 50-share Nifty index ended at 5,562.20, down 68.80 points or 1.22 per cent, its biggest fall since July 26. The broader index touched a high of 5,650.15 and a low of 5,559.80 in trade today.

The Sensex ended at 18,269.38, down 201.99 points or 1.09 per cent. It touched a high of 18,563.32 and a low of 18,266.76 in trade today.

The BSE Midcap Index was up 1.12 per cent and the BSE Smallcap Index was 1.32 per cent lower.

Among the sectoral indices, the BSE Realty Index was down 3.94 per cent, the BSE Auto Index was down 1.78 per cent and the BSE Bankex declined 1.71 per cent. The BSE IT Index gained 0.17 per cent.